1. Technical Field
The present patent document relates generally to heart valve sizing rings and more particularly to a heart valve sizing ring configured for valve-sparing aortic root remodeling procedures.
2. Background of the Related Art
Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, during valve-sparing aortic root remodeling procedures sutures 14 are aligned at the base of the heart valve 10. The aortic wall is resected and sculpted to preserve three anchor points for the heart valve where the leaflets 12 meet, i.e. the commissures 16. Sutures 18 are placed above the commissures 16. The sutures 14 at the base of the valve 10 are used to anchor the graft to the heart and to stabilize (and often “downsize”) the aortic root. The sutures 18 above the commissures 16 are anchored to the upper “tube” portion of the graft where they are positioned high enough to allow the commissures 16 to be “resuspended” helping to correct geometry of the valve 10.
However, if the correct graft size is not selected during the repair, the surgeon may not be able to properly reshape the valve 10, thereby leading prolonged and/or suboptimal surgical operations which could lead to complications and poor outcomes.
Therefore, there is a perceived need in the industry for a method and device to allow a surgeon to easily size and test a valve repair in valve-sparing aortic root remodeling procedures.